Donnell Kirkwood (sprained ankle) was in an orange jersey running around, but he's doubtful for Saturday's game at New Mexico State. Still, it's a good sign that he's making progress less than a week after sustaining the injury.

Berkley Edwards (sprained ankle) is about as close to returning to game action as Kirkwood, said Coach Jerry Kill, who compared Edwards' injury to the one MarQueis Gray suffered last year. It took Gray about three weeks to come back from his injury, Kill said.

Derrick Wells (shoulder and hamstring injuries) has been practicing at full-speed this week and will have an opportunity to play against New Mexico State, defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys said. "I think Derrick will be available, if not for this one, next week for sure," Claeys said.

Jamel Harbison will miss his second straight game because of a discipline issue, Kill said. "But he’ll be back here soon," Kill said. "He’s doing a good job. He’s doing what he’s been asked to do and told to do. It's no different than -- I’m sure Rodrick [Williams] won’t be late to the team meeting this week. I don’t think he enjoyed missing the first half, so I think he’ll be the first one at the team meeting."

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Randy Johnson has been covering college football in one form or another since the early 1990s. He was the Star Tribune’s main college football editor on the copy desk for nearly two decades before returning to reporting in August 2017 as the beat writer for Gophers football. Randy has covered a Rose Bowl (Joe Paterno’s 1994 Penn State team), and he covered a John Gutekunst-coached Gophers team that missed out on the 1990 Weed-Eater Bowl. Email Randy to talk about the Gophers.